


Ephemeral

by displayheartcode



Series: Normal is the Watchword [3]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-29
Updated: 2014-06-29
Packaged: 2018-02-06 19:02:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1868934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/displayheartcode/pseuds/displayheartcode
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The end of vacation and the start of work shouldn't begin with a murder.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ephemeral

**Author's Note:**

> This is basically what I have in mind for my Big Damn Novel.

When I got back from my medical leave, I was hoping that my first case wasn't going to be gruesome. The corpse on the ground disagreed violently with any ideas of me filling out boring paperwork and writing reports. The call that I had got before I left was vague about the scene, so I had the feeling that my day was going to take a downward spiral. Steeling myself, I showed the agents guarding the scene my badge and ducked under the yellow tape.

Bayer was waiting for me and nodded grimly when I started swearing at the scene. “Welcome back,” he sighed heavily. He stood up and covered the kid’s pale face with the sheet. A pool of dried blood stood out sharply next to the white fabric. 

My eyes refused to banish the image of the slack-jawed look and vacant eyes on the young face. It already felt too soon to be dealing with this, and I started to regret my decision of coming back. I’m sure that crashing on my ex’s couch and healing from the nasty bullet wounds was going to start feeling like a pleasant dream after today. I willed myself to stop thinking back to those wonderful peaceful weeks, and placed myself back in the world of grisly deaths and child murderers. A bitter taste filled my mouth, and the feeling of old age settled into my bones.

I need to start thinking of taking the rest of those vacation days, I thought. I closed my eyes and slowly counted down from ten.

I rubbed the corners of my eyes, making sure to compose myself. “Oh, a murder? You shouldn't have,” I drawled in an attempt to keep my voice in an even manner. “Flowers aren't good enough anymore?”

My partner made an impatient noise but let the jibe go. “You don't have to be here,” he said.

I put on my thinnest smile. “And leave you with the paperwork?” I turned away from the scene and concentrated on my surroundings. There was a group of old brownstones near the corpse; he could had been from there. “Cause of death?” I asked, observing the nearby buildings.

Bayer ran a hand through his brown hair. “He fell from a window. No witnesses. Listen about you being here—”

“How is it ours?” I interrupted.

He pointed to something near the corpse, something dark and almost glittering in the growing sunlight. It was a stark contrast to the yellow place card next to it. I took the plastic gloves out of my pocket and crouched down. I ignored my shaking fingers as I held a curious feather up.

“Pretty,” I said, watching the hues shift from midnight blues to dark sea-greens. There was a fine gold detail etched into it, creating delicate swirls that made it look almost too beautiful to be a part of this world.

I put the feather back down and took a glove off one hand. Hovering it over the evidence, I spread my fingers out and concentrated. The hairs on the back of my neck rose, as I got the chilling presence of something not normal. It felt familiar. I muttered an incantation under my breath to get a better reading. Small lights, looking much like fireflies, sparked from my fingers; they ignored the corpse and moved to the feather. It collected over it like flies attracted to honey. I spoke the ending of the spell and the lights vanished.

“Supernatural occurrence but the kid’s human,” Bayer stated the obvious answer at first. “CSU thinks it’s something from the Faerie Realm, but they want to wait for the midday sunlight to come in. Apartment is also filled with the lovely folks in the community.”

I let out a low whistle. It wouldn’t be a first time that the Fey were involved in a murder. Tricks, glamor, and blood spilling were legendary talents of theirs. Their magic, while powerful as it was, would always lose a large chuck of it with sunlight. Things withering away in direct sunlight was always a good indicator of the Tinker Bells and Robin Goodfellows up to mischief. They were always up to something that involved missing children, leaving curses in someone’s bloodline, or anything among the lines of causing some mortals serious pain.

I grimaced as I mentally flipped through who could had done the murder. The list was long.

“Started canvassing the buildings yet?” I stood up, and my knees made crackling sounds. The recovering bullet wound on my thigh reminded me that I was going to have to take some painkillers soon. The pain echoed in the similar injuries on my chest. I rubbed an area near my heart, and tried not to let the discomfort show on my face. I already took some painkillers this morning. The last thing anyone needed was for me to get another horrible habit.

Bayer raised an eyebrow, but wisely said nothing about it. He was one of the people in the department that forced me to go on vacation in the first place. “I was waiting for you. I got the feeling that they may not like me.”

The joys of being human in a supernatural-filled workplace. The poor guy never got a break when it came to the attitudes from the community.

“Don’t worry,” I said. “They’ll start liking you once they meet me.” I took another look at the brownstone that was in front of us. I wasn’t going to bet much that we were going to find our lead there.

Another day, another death. I sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of my nose. It was too late to back out now. I had a job to do.

“Okay,” I said. “Let's get to work.”


End file.
